If I could have changed one thing about yesterday, it would have been the weather. It was cold and blustery. The wind howled out of the south with gusts to more than 30 mph. You would think a south wind, and temperatures around 50F would make for a lovely day, but the wind made it miserable. To boot, my favorite, warm work coat – the faded red, vintage sportsman’s duck hunting jacket that I stole from FD years ago, finally became so thread-bare that I could no longer patch it. Stuffing poured out of the left shoulder and the sleeves were horribly frayed. All of the pocket linings were completely gone. And recently, when the metal zipper broke in two, I realized it had to go. I dreaded heading out to the cold with the replacement jacket FD had given me – some fancy wind resistant coat with lots of pockets and zipper pulls that he…

Dear Reader
I found The blog by LittleSunDog by “accident”. But really it was meant to be. Get stories over the years have made me laugh and cry and everything in between. Today it. Was tears of understanding, sadness and hope for our imperfect world.

I share with you today’s post to share something wonderful to add to your experience here, and not to keep it from others to enjoy. 🦁🦁🦁

This time of year, when warmth returns and spring rains prompt growth, the landscape really comes to life. Birds begin migration to the north, their chatter producing a cacophony of noise and song as they make their way through the woodlands. Mammals who have long slumbered or kept inactive over the bitterly cold winter months, begin to emerge, looking a bit bedraggled as they shed their heavy winter hair and fur. Every living thing seems to awaken with the arrival of warmer temperatures and spring winds. I myself, am prone to spend hours outdoors, readying my flower beds and preparing the soil in the garden. To do so, we spread two-year-seasoned chicken poop on the garden plot, along with last autumn’s leaves and a bit of ash from the burn pile. Amending the soil this way is a yearly spring task. Weeding the flowerbeds and tending to herbs and perennials…

We used to have a mighty Hawk visit our yard in Richmond, VA. Our pictures were not as clear or detailed as these, and I do not know what kind of Hawk. It was cool just being in “his” presence as he surveyed our yard looking for a snack.

For the past five years, I have enjoyed putting bird feeders out and watching the variety of winter birds that visit them from my kitchen window. Before that, my feeder placements of seeds, nuts, and berries was a bit more haphazard. Back then, I simply placed seed trays on or near the back porch (where I keep a heated bird bath filled with fresh water) and hung a few thistle feeders on shepherd hooks nearby. But eventually, I realized I did not spend enough time on the back porch observing the birds in the chill of winter to make the effort worth my while. Also, the bird poop that whitewashed the decking of the back porch soon became quite a nuisance to clean up. Consequently, I had to rethink the whole bird feeding idea.

This is the view from my kitchen and computer room windows. The elm tree laying on its side in the neighbor’s yard is still very alive and prolific!…

Lately a few fellow early birds I run into as I make my rounds between seaside sunrise and coffee shop have asked how the morning’s snapping went and then hit me with “So, what do you with the pictures?” And I always mumble something about the blog, and personal satisfaction, and more tangible options along the line when I have some money — but mostly what I do with them is edit. Delete and edit. Pretty sad, I know. But they give me a reason to walk, I guess…

A plus side of all this downtime is the progress I’ve made with a ton of shots from my two years in Korea, which was when and where I really buckled down and tried to improve as a photographer, largely as an attempt at therapy, self-medication and diversion. And it would be a shame if I didn’t share some of them, so I’m going to…